


Your regular Coffee Shop AU

by mikariin



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:02:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26415367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikariin/pseuds/mikariin
Summary: Katara needed money as soon as possible to be able to pay the rent of the apartment she shared with a friend. That was the reason that she agreed to work at the Jasmine Dragon coffee shop without thinking twice after seeing how much they would pay her. The place was great, it was close, it paid well, its owner was kind ...There was only one problem and he had a first and last name: Zuko Sozin.Also posted in portuguese in Social Spirit.
Relationships: Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 164





	Your regular Coffee Shop AU

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!  
> So this isn't the first fic I write in my life but it's the first I write in english, so be kind to me. This was originally written in portuguese, so yeah... I'm not really sure how my grammar will be LOL  
> Inspired by a tumblr prompt.
> 
> Anyways, thank you for reading!

Katara needed money as soon as possible to be able to pay the rent of the apartment she shared with a friend. Her old job did not pay well and her father had been fired and couldn’t help her anymore. So that’s why she agreed to work at the Jasmine Dragon coffee shop without thinking twice after seeing the amount they would pay her.

The place was great! It took a fifteen minutes bus ride to get there from her place, the afternoon shift matched perfectly with her college schedule, the owner of the place was the sweetest person ever and she could take home as many pastries she wanted if there was any left over after they closed. There was only one problem and he had a name and surname: Zuko Sozin.

Zuko was the manager of the Jasmine Dragon and he worked the same afternoon shift as Katara. While Iroh, the owner, was gentle and patient, Zuko was rude, demanding and always in a bad mood. He said that Iroh was too soft and that he had to make up for it. He seemed to enjoy bothering Katara with a million different tasks per day. And, to make things worse, Zuko was Iroh’s nephew and whenever Katara complained about him, all she heard from Iroh was “Zuko is a good boy, you just have to be a little patient with him and you’ll see this!”

_“Good boy my ass!”_ she thought _“He’s an asshole, that’s it!”_. Katara was sure Iroh only turned a blind eye to Zuko’s behavior because they were family. Damn nepotism!

Every day was the same. Katara would get there close to three in the afternoon, she would greet Iroh and Aang, the boy who did the pastries, and she would go to the break room to put in her green apron. There, she would find Zuko on the couch typing furiously in his laptop, while waiting for his shift to begin.

“Good afternoon, Zuko!” she always said, so no one could say that she wasn’t trying to be nice with him. All that she would receive as an answer was a grunt.

Usually, she would work at the register, but, sometimes, she would help make the drinks as well, it depended on the flux of people in the day. What never changed was that, as soon as her work hours started, Zuko would piss her off.

_ ‘You didn’t clean the tables right, Katara!’ _ even though she had cleaned twice.

_ ‘This is not how you make this tea, Katara!’ _ even though she swore she put the ingredients right.

_ ‘You’re too slow, Katara!’  _ her speed was completely acceptable, thank you very much!

Nothing she did was good enough and he was always screaming around. Katara wanted to scream ‘Then do it yourself!’, but she was afraid of losing her job or some shit like that.

At least Iroh and Aang were nice. If she really did make a mistake, they would calmly explain to her how to do it right. Aang was seventeen, two year younger than her, and was a lovely person. Katara couldn’t understand how Aang could be this patient to put up with Zuko’s bad mood without making a face, because she was sure that all her negative feelings showed through her face whenever Zuko screamed at her.

Her only consolation was to know that this was not a personal attack, because Zuko was rude with everyone. Including the clients. When she was hired, Iroh informed her that normally she would handle the customer service, since he wanted someone pleasant, because Zuko’s scowl frightened everyone. Well, maybe almost everyone.

“It’s ten dollars, lady.” Katara said to the client on the other side of the counter.

“Here” the client answered, handing a twenty dollars bill. While Katara took the change, the girl slid a folded paper to her. “Can you give this to Zuko, please?”

Katara sighed, it wasn’t the first time this had happened. She took the paper and handed the change, wishing a good day to the client, who left smiling. Then Katara gave the paper to Zuko, who was cleaning the counter.

“What is this?” he asked confused, opening the paper.

“Guess.” she rolled her eyes when he smirked when opening the paper. As she expected, it was a phone number.

“Jin… Did she have two braids?” Katara nodded. “Nice.”

She rolled her eyes once more and went back to the register. Despite his terrible personality, he must be well desired, after all, as much as Katara hated to admit, Zuko was good-looking. He was tall, had long black hair that was usually tied up in a bun, charming amber eyes, ear piercings and a scar in his right eye. His shoulders were broad and he had a nice shape. Not that Katara noticed or anything like that. The bad boy vibe that he gave off has its charm, but everytime he yelled at her for something silly, Katara remembered why she disliked him.

-*-*-*-

It was the end of the shift and the coffee shop was already closed. Iroh was checking the tea storage, while Zuko, Katara and Aang were cleaning the place. Until Aang got a call and looked at Zuko with guilty eyes.

“Man, something came up and I kind of have to go right now.” he explained quickly, with an apologetic tone.

“Whatever.” Zuko grunted. “You can go.”

“Thanks!” Aang said taking off his apron and going to put it in his locker in the break room. When he was about to leave the store, Aang turned again. “Ah, before I forget: Katara, some of your favorite pastries are left, I separated them for you.”

“Thanks, Aang!” she said without looking at him, too focused on removing a particular stubborn stain from one of the tables.

Katara heard the sound of the door closing and then a chuckle coming from Zuko.

“You’re so cruel, Katara.” he said, sweeping the floor again.

“What do you mean?” she asked, stopping what she was doing to look at him.

“The boy is clearly in love with you, bakes more of your favorite pastries everytime and you won’t even look at him? You should have seen his face when he left.”

“Aang is not in love with me and my favorite pastries were left over by chance.” 

Zuko looked at her as she was stupid, which annoyed her deeply. “Ah, yes, everyday the  _ same _ thing is left over by chance” his tone was ironic and the smirk on his face revolting. “You’re smarter than that.”

Katara rolled her eyes, maybe he was right. But Aang was always nice to her and she honestly couldn’t see any chance in his behavior. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She went back to cleaning. “Besides, it’s not like I gave him any kind of special attention, so what exactly did I do for him to fall for me?”

“He is seventeen and you’re beautiful.”

Katara looked at him feeling herself blush and Zuko looked back leaning loosely on his broom, with a smile on his face. He was teasing her. “Jerk.” he laughed.

Was Zuko flirting with her or was this just another way he found to annoy her? He said she was beautiful, after all, but he also insinuated that this was the only reason Aang had to like her, as if she wasn’t also nice or something like that. But, if this was a flirt, Katara wondered if this means that he would be nicer to her from now on.

“Everything is right with the storage!” Iroh said happily as he joined them at the front of the coffee shop. “Are you done with cleaning?”

“I am, but Katara is _too_ _slow_ and hasn't finished yet.”

Katara sighed, apparently not.

-*-*-*-

The week went on with Zuko casting “I told you so!” eyes every time Aang did something different, like laughing excessively of her not-so-funny jokes, saying how pretty she was that day or even giving her a flower that he “found on his way to work”. It was nice to have this kind of attention, but she felt bad for not feeling the same for him.

As for Zuko, she didn’t know what to think. His attitude towards her didn’t change, he was still as annoying as ever, but he also made some suspicious comments from time to time. Sometimes they made her shy, sometimes they just pissed her off. Zuko seemed to like any of these reactions.

Katara was getting ready to go home. She had already put her apron in her locker and packed up her things, the only thing left to do was take her name off wednesday’s column on the shift board, because she had asked this day off so she could study for a test she had at thursday. Looking at the names there, she noticed that Zuko would work every day that week, including saturday night.

“Don’t you have a life?” She teased him, who was putting his apron in his locker.

He closed the locker door and looked at her. “What?”

“You work the entire week, even on saturdays. Don’t you have a social life, like friends or girlfriend?”

“Actually, I do.” He leaned on the locker and folded his arms. Katara couldn’t help but notice his muscles. “I just help my Uncle when he needs me, that’s all. But why do you want to know?”

“For nothing. I just wanted to understand why you’re so insufferable.” She said nonchalant. “It surprises me that you found someone to put up with you to the point of dating you.” She smiled smugly at him.

“Who said anything about a girlfriend?” Zuko asked curiously, getting close to her and holding her gaze.

“You said.”

“No, I said I have a social life.”

“So no girlfriend?”

“No girlfriend.” Zuko leaned with one hand on the wall and the other on his waist, eyeing her from top to bottom. He then smirked, like he always did when he was about to say something he knew would annoy her. He was irresistible when he did that and the fact that he was so close to her didn't help. “But why do you wanna know, Katara? Are you interested in the spot?”

She wanted to punch his face and then kiss his lips. But she decided she wasn’t going to lose her composure, as two could play this game. “I bet you wished that, huh?” she said smugly.

Zuko’s smile got bigger. He watched her for a few more seconds as if he considered something in his head and then walked away laughing. Katara watched as he grabbed his backpack and his car keys, heading towards the door next.

“See you tomorrow, Zuko”

“Hm.” he grunted in response, waving at her.

-*-*-*-

It was a particularly busy thursday at the Jasmine Dragon and Katara was working both at the cashier and making some drinks when Zuko was overwhelmed. She took orders, dealt with impatient customers, took care of the cashier and even made a drink that was simpler to streamline the process. Feeling stressed by the great demand, Katara made a mistake and gave the wrong drink to the client who came to yell at her at the counter. Zuko handled the situation, his frown always helping to intimidate rude clients, and he made the right drink to the woman.

“Why can’t you do anything right?” he whispered harshly, holding the bridge of his nose. Katara frowned as well, that was not fair.

“It was just a mistake, she didn’t have to come yelling like that!” she answered, also trying to keep her voice low, but crealy upset. “Look at how many people there are here! I had a bunch of orders to take and I had never made that drink before, I made a mistake.”

Zuko looked at her with an angry face, but his eyes looked tired. After a few seconds of consideration, he sighed, calming himself and softening his expression. “You’re right. I’m sorry, I’m just stressed.” he confessed, leaving Katara surprised by his reaction. “I’ll… Teach you how to make that drink afterwards. Just go back to work now.”

He turned and went to deliver some orders at the tables, leaving Katara stunned at the counter. What did just happen? Zuko being nice? Was he sick? She didn’t know what had caused his change of heart, but it was wellcome. Katara kept working.

The movement finally subsided at nightfall and now there were only a few people sitting at the cafeteria tables, which was about to close. Zuko was cleaning the counter and Katara was looking at what pastries were left that she could take home.

“Hey, do you wanna learn how to make that drink now?” Zuko asked. “There is almost no one here anyway.”

Katara shrugged and accepted his proposal. Zuko showed her the correct order of ingredients, as well as some variations that customers could order. After his demonstratio was over, he leaned loosely on the counter to watch as she tried to prepare the drink herself. Suddenly, Katara became shy. Usually, when Zuko taught her something, he would then deliver some order, only coming back to see the final result, but this time he had nothing else to do. Katara wasn’t making anything extremely complicated and she knew that if she made a mistake, Zuko would tease her about it.

With each ingredient that she put in the cup, she looked at him quickly for some approval or not, but his expression gave nothing away. He rested his face in his hand, watching her closely. It didn't help her nerves at all, in fact, it was quite distracting to have his gaze fixed on her, it made her heart beat faster.

“I like your hair.” he said out of nowhere and Katara blushed.

“Can you stop doing that, please?” she complained, placing her cup on the counter and looking at him with an angry face.

“Did I do something wrong?” he asked confused.

“You keep looking at me like that and now you complimented me out of nowhere.” she put her hands on her hips, irritated. “If you’re trying to distract me, it won’t work!”

Zuko's confused expression faded into one of his wicked smiles. “I distract you just by looking at you?” He got close to her and she hated when he got this close. “I didn't know that I made you so nervous, Katara. It's quite cute.”

“T-That’s not what I-!” she tried to say, but Zuko's smug look made her quiet. He knew that that was exactly what she meant. “Spirits, I hate you.” she focused her eyes on the cup with the drink she was trying to make.

“Are you embarrassed?” he poked her ribs and when she didn't respond, he laughed. “Come on, finish this drink already.”

Katara finished the drink quickly after that and gave it to Zuko. He took a sip and raised an eyebrow.

“It’s good.” he said and Katara smiled. She took the cup from his hands and tasted it, feeling really satisfied with the result.

“This is the second compliment you give me today.” she commented, starting to wash the cafeteria utensils. “What happened for you to be so nice to me today?”

“I’m always nice.” he answered simply and Katara laughed out loud. She didn’t know if he was kidding or if he really didn’t realize he was in a bad mood. “What?”

Katara didn't have time to answer, three customers lined up to pay and leave. It was time to close and Zuko went to put the "closed" sign on the door of the cafeteria. After the customers left, they started cleaning the place.

“Zuko, do you know why Iroh didn’t come today?” she asked. It was the first time she had seen Iroh take the day off.

“He went to the cemetery.” Zuko sighed and his answer surprised Katara. She expected anything but that. “It's his son's five years death anniversary.”

“Oh… I’m so sorry. He was your cousin, right?” He just nodded. “Were you two close?”

“I guess. I mean, he was ten years older than me, but I liked him very much.” His voice was sad. Katara had never seen that expression on her face and she decided she didn't like it one bit. 

The mood got really heavy and she didn't know what else to say.

“Anyway, I'm kind of sad today because of that and that's why I'm "so nice to you".” He said, making quotes with his hand, mimicking what she had said before. “So don’t get used to it.” Katara laughed, relieved by the change of subject.

“That’s a shame, you look pretty cute when you're nice to me.”

“Oh, really? And how do I look when I’m not nice to you?”

Katara got very close to him and looked him straight in the eye. “A hot jerk.”

And with that, she had the pleasure of seeing Zuko's cheeks flush. Katara left laughing, going to get the cloth to pass the tables in the cafeteria.

-*-*-*-

The teasing between Zuko and Katara didn't change much after that. Zuko continued with his characteristic bad mood and Katara still had difficulty holding her tongue in her responses. What changed was that now they would talk to each other a lot more during the quiet moments at the coffee shop and she found out that he had a weird sense of humor. He was kind of nice when he was talking about his interests, but most of all, he was a great listener. Zuko seemed to really enjoy hearing her talk about things.

It wasn't hard for Katara to catch Zuko staring at her and she also found it hard not to watch him when he was distracted. She already knew that he was handsome, but she noticed little quirks of his that she found adorable. Like when he played with the ring on his finger when he didn't have much to do, or how he turned red when she caught him looking at her. Katara found it was really sexy the face he made when he was focused on something and also the way he spoke when he was purposely trying to annoy her. She also found it extremely difficult not to touch him, either when she was handing him something and their hands would touch, or when she touched his shoulder while telling him something.

Even when they weren't close to each other, Katara found herself more and more often thinking about him. She thought about the things he said that made her laugh, or feel like kissing him, or feel like punching his face ... Often the last two happened together.

That was an unlucky friday. Aang got a cold and couldn’t come to work, so Iroh took his chores and Zuko took Iroh’s, with Katara’s help. The last day of the week tended to be busier as a rule and the lack of a member of the team was felt. To make things worse, one of the grain grinding machines had broken, slowing down the service. The day was a total chaos. When it finally came to an end, Katara couldn't stand seeing anyone's face anymore and she swore that if Zuko said anything rude to her, she would kick his ass.

Zuko was organizing the tea stock, while Katara finished sweeping the cafeteria floor.

“Katara!” he called her from the storage. “Can you bring me these pots of herbs that are on the counter?”

“Okay!” she answered, picking the pots in her arms and bringing them to him.

“These two go here.” he took two of the four pots she had brought to him. “And those are back there. Put them there for me.” he told her without even looking at her.

_ “Would it kill him to say ‘please’?”  _ she thought, annoyed, but went to do what he said anyway.

She found where to store the first pot easily, but she couldn't find the right place to store the second.

“Zuko, where do I put the ‘Dragon’s tongue’?” Katara asked after reading the label. She realized that this one had a different packaging and the herb came in lesser quantity, indicating that it must be very rare.

“There’s a box with a “Imported” label on the top shelf.”

Katara found the box and tried to reach it, but she wasn't tall enough. Instead of asking for help, the girl supported herself on the shelf with an arm and climbed it to reach the box, but the box was too big to be held with only one hand.

"What are you doing?" Zuko asked when he saw Katara climbing the shelf. "You're going to fall, idiot, get down!"

Normally, Katara would do that, but he said in such a rude way and she had spent the whole day with him bossing her around, that she decided to be stubborn. However, it seemed like the universe had other plans and she wasn't able to balance herself and hold the box at the same time, so her foot slipped and she would have fallen if it wasn't for Zuko.

"What's your problem?" Zuko asked extremely pissed off while holding Katara in his arms. The tea box was on the floor and its content spilled all over the place. "Why do you never listen to what I say?"

Katara broke away from his arms and looked at him angry. She knew she was probably the wrong one in this situation, she should have come down, but the day had been so tiring and she was so on edge, that she simply blew up.

"I listen to what you say, Zuko!" she yelled. "Actually, it is  _ impossible  _ not to listen, since all you do is to yell!"

"I don't…" he hesitated for a second, looking surprised by her declaration. But then he frowned again, angry. "If you listen, then why don't you do it?"

"Because you get on my nerves!"

"How can you be so stubborn?" he yelled, getting close to her.

"How can you be so insufferable?" she retorted, also getting close to him.

The two stared at each other furiously, Katara with her hands in her waist and Zuko with his arms folded. They were so close that Katara could feel his breathing in her face. Her heart was beating in her ears and she didn't know if it was because of the anger or because this jerk was too fucking handsome for her mental health. The proximity made her want to do inappropriate things. She licked her lips and took a deep breath, trying to keep those thoughts at bay. Her gesture didn't go unnoticed by Zuko, that smirked.

"Do you know what I think?" he touched her chin with his finger and his eyes were focused on her lips. A thrill ran through her body. "I think that you want to kiss me so bad it makes you look stupid."

That was the last straw. Katara did what she had been wanting to do for a long time, she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him in for a furious kiss. Zuko was caught by surprise, but then he cupped her face bringing her closer to him. The kiss was desperate and clumsy, discharging all the anger and desire she felt for him at that moment.

“I can't believe it was you who gave in first.” he breathlessly said after they parted. Katara rolled her eyes, even in a moment like this he could be annoying.

“Just shut up and kiss me.”

He smiled and grabbed her waist, bringing her closer once again. Katara wrapped her arms around Zuko's neck and deepened the kiss. This time, it was more calm and sensual, but still nothing that Katara had expected. In the times she imagined herself kissing Zuko, they were definitely never in the tea storage making out after yelling at each other.

Zuko leaned her against the shelf, his body deliciously pressed against hers. One of his hands came down to her thigh, squeezing it, while the other pulled lightly on Katara's hair so that he had access to her neck. He placed kisses in the area, making her shiver. Katara scratched the back of his neck and breathed heavily, feeling extremely hot.

“Is everything alright?” they suddenly heard Iroh asking from the storage’s door. The two separate immediately, completely out of breath. “I heard a noise, then you two screaming and then silence. I was afraid that you guys had killed each other.” he appeared in the corridor where they were standing, fortunately without having seen what they were doing before.

“Everything is fine, Uncle.” Zuko answered, trying to pretend he was normal. Katara couldn't look at Iroh, so she crouched down to collect the tea bags that had fallen on the floor. “We just dropped a tea box.”

“Oh! Did someone get hurt?” he asked, worried. “Katara, are you ok?”

“No, no, everything is fine, Uncle!” Zuko said very quickly, he desperately wanted his uncle to leave. “We will clean this up now.”

Iroh hesitated for a few moments, finding the situation a little weird. But he soon shrugged and turned to leave.

The two collected the tea bags in silence, avoiding looking at each other. Katara felt her face burn, still feeling her body warm from his touch. She didn’t know what to do now that they finally had kissed. Had that finally broken the sexual tension between them or did it only serve to increase it? She didn’t know.

After everything was done, Katara went to the break room to put her apron in her locker and get ready to go home. She was about to leave when Zuko held her arm lightly.

“Do you… want to finish what we started in the storage?” he whispered in her ear and from the hesitation in his voice, Katara could conclude that he also didn't know what to expect from that kiss.

“Where?” she asked, feeling her heart beat faster. Zuko looked at her in surprise, he must have thought she would deny it promptly.

“In my house.”

“Right now?” she finally looked him in the eye and he nodded. “But don’t you leave with your uncle?”

“He goes out every friday.” he replied, smirking. Katara bit her bottom lip, feeling her body heat up again. “So?”

“Let’s go.”

Zuko got ready as fast as possible and both said goodbye to Iroh who called an Uber to go wherever he went on fridays. The eight silent minutes she spent in Zuko's car to his apartment were the longest in her life. She felt like she was dying of anticipation.

He barely closed the door of his apartment and Katara was already clinging to his neck, kissing him fervently. Zuko's hands traveled all over her body, driving her crazy with his warm touches, and when they finally arrived in his room, Katara was already without shoes and without a bra. He put her on his bed, biting her ear, kissing her neck and collarbone, while he caressed her breasts with his hands. Katara took off his shirt with some difficulty and had little time to admire him without it, as he didn’t want to separate his body from hers more than necessary.

Katara's hands traveled Zuko's arms, shoulders and back, feeling his soft skin and its heat. She moaned when his tongue touched one of her breasts. His hand squeezed her thigh and her ass, he touched her body intimately, making Katara feel her desire pulse between her legs. Zuko then unbuttoned her denim shorts and slid his hand slowly into her panties. Katara moaned loudly.

“You’re so wet.” he whispered in her ear, his warm breath making everything more intense. “How long have you been waiting for this?”

Katara laughed to herself. She could feel his erection touching her thigh. “It's not like you're in a better situation than mine.” she said, moving her leg and pressing the sensitive spot between his legs.

The movement made him groan and Katara laughed even harder. In retaliation, he put two fingers in her middle and her laugh was replaced by a loud sigh. She scratched the back of his neck in a pleasant way, while his hand moved inside her deliciously. Zuko kissed her cheek and then her lips, never stopping his movements and Katara couldn't help moving her hips, in sync with him, looking for more friction.

Katara groaned in frustration when Zuko removed his hand from between her legs and pulled away. But the dissatisfaction didn't last long, as he tore her shorts off, along with her panties, and put her legs on his shoulders. Katara saw stars when he used his tongue and all she could do was moan his name, along with incoherent things when he added his fingers again.

She felt violent spasms all over her body and then her orgasm came, leaving her completely weak on his bed. Zuko laughed as he licked his fingers and cleaned his chin. Katara smiled, pulling him for a clumsy kiss. She heard him opening a drawer in the dresser next to his bed, catching a condom. He took off his pants and his underwear with a hurry. Katara bit her bottom lip as she watched him putting on the preservative, feeling again chills build up between her legs.

Zuko kissed her again, positioning himself between Katara's legs. He touched her with his hand and the increased sensitivity of this area almost made her scream. He kept teasing her for a while and Katara couldn't understand his level of self control to not give in to his own desire.

"Hurry up, Zuko" she whined, feeling him smile against her neck.

"Only if you ask nicely." he answered, pressing their intimities together and biting her neck to suppress a groan.

"How can you be this annoying even in a moment like this?" she complained and he repeated his movement. She moaned and scratched his back in retaliation.

“I’m waiting.”

“Please, Zuko.”

He answered her plea with great pleasure, eliciting moans from both of them. His movements started out slow, but steady, trying to let her get comfortable. Then his speed began to increase and all that could be heard in the room was the sound of skin on skin and screams.

Katara bit his shoulder, trying to control her voice, but to no avail. Her whole body was shaking and she could only think about how much she was enjoying it. Zuko recited dirty compliments in her ear, kissing and nibbling her neck in the process. If she didn't like him one day, she couldn't remember why. 

Her second apex of the night came with less intensity than the first, but still left her completely limp and breathless. Zuko followed her a few seconds later, his body falling over hers. They stayed like that for a while, Katara stroking his hair as they both recovered their breath.

Katara was not very experienced in having sex without being in a relationship and in the few times it happened, she never knew what to do next. Did he want her to leave now? Should she ask to stay? If this was a one time thing, how would they look at each other at the Jasmine Dragon now? Did she want this to be something more than a one night stand? Was this a mistake? Always the overthinker, Katara started to freak out.

“Can I take a shower?” she asked, feeling awkward.

“Of course.” he replied promptly, rising from the top of her to look her in the eye. “Will you... stay the night?” there was hesitation in his voice.

Katara didn't know how to respond. She wanted to spend the night with him, but she wasn’t sure he wanted the same. “If that’s alright for you.”

And with that she saw Zuko's face light up and a little bit of her worry went away.

She showered quickly and Zuko lent her a T-shirt that served as more of a nightgown. After Zuko also took a shower, they lay together and hugged on his bed. Katara felt extremely comfortable there, with him stroking her back, the moonlight coming in through the window being the only thing to illuminate the room.

“Do you really think I yell all the time?” he asked suddenly.

“Yes” she laughed lightly and Zuko looked at her with embarrassment, frowning. “But when I said that you were insufferable, I was only exaggerating. You're just grumpy.”

“I have to work on that.” he grunted, still embarrassed.

Katara laughed, then kissed his cheek. She felt his body relax. After a few more moments of contemplative silence, Zuko looked at her again.

“Do you want to go out with me tomorrow?”

“Like a date?” Katara asked, feeling her cheeks flush. Which was silly, she thought, considering what they had just done.

“Yeah.” he smiled.

“I’d love that.” she smiled back.

He kissed her lips and then snuggled closer to sleep. Katara felt like she could get used to this.


End file.
